91Èȱ¬

From its beginnings in 1927, the dance soon became associated with youth. Older people disapproved of it and tried to ban it from dance halls, claiming Jive was non-progressive and disturbed other dancers on the floor. It was brought to Europe by American G.Is during the Second World War, but the dance was forced to go underground due to its 'corrupting influence'.

How routines should look:

When watching the jive, we should feel that we are being transported back to the 1930s.

It's a very fast dance. There must be no softness, with lots of sharp action.

There should be lots of kicks and flicks, executed with a beautifully pointed toe and sharp action.

Routines should include:

Kicks - coming from the hip

Flicks - coming from the knee

American Spin - when the man lets go of the lady and lets her spin on her own.